Impact Desktop Studio Shooting Table Two Light Kit Review

If you are into product photography, or perhaps sell items on a regular basis on sites such as ebay, it makes sense to have a lighting studio kit that can produce consistent, high quality results. The Impact Desktop Studio Shooting Table Two Light Kit is an out-of-the-box solution that enables you to quickly and easily start capturing quality product photos.

NIKON D800 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 100, 1/80, f/8.0

1) Initial Thoughts

This is another well-built kit by Impact that provides good value for the money and is a worthy alternative to kits selling for significantly more.

2) Features And Construction

The shooting table is very easy to set-up. The formed plexiglass sheet’s grommets simply slide over the posts of the folding table and the top of the sheet slides under two brackets. Two knobs then lock the plexiglass sheet in place. Set up time: 1 minute. When not being used, the table can easily be dissembled and folded to be relatively compact. The plexiglass doesn’t fold completely flat, however, as the bottom and top portions have flexible, but rather stiff bend points.

The two 3-way cool florescent lights provide 4500 lumens of 5500°K light. I like my white balance a bit more to toward the blue end of the spectrum, so I adjusted the temperature to 4900°K in Lightroom 4. The heads are made out of sturdy aluminum and they easily lock into place with a quick turn of the adjustment knob. Impact provides a plexiglass diffuser which takes a bit of the edge off the light bulbs and softens the light. I had the lights on for the better part of an hour, and they remained cool to the touch. These lights can be assembled in approximately 5 minutes. The Impact light stands included in this kit are highly rated. They are air-cushioned, which is a nice touch for stands in this price range.

3)Operations

This desktop studio shooting table kit is very easy to use. Simply arrange your shooting table on the end of a desk or table (floor if you don’t have pets), put your product on the plexiglass, and arrange your lights. You may have to experiment with the light proximity, angles, and your cameras settings a bit to get the right combination for desired exposure. Depending on your preference, you may wish to have a solid white exposure as the background or a bit of a fall-off resulting in a grayish background. You can also move one of the lights behind light table so you have one in front and one in back. This is a purely a matter of taste and the look you attempting to achieve.

Here are some photos which demonstrate the light and effects of this kit. I varied the exposure and light fall-off a bit to demonstrate the various effects of changing the position of the lights.

5) Quality

The table, lights, and stands are very well-designed and solidly constructed.

6) Value

At $375, this kit is priced toward the lower end of the studio table lighting kit spectrum. Prices for some of the competitors products, such as Manfrotto and Elinchrom range from $300 to nearly $1,900 for the shooting table alone, to which you need to add the cost of lights and stands. As such, this kit provides a good value if you are looking for a good entry point for product photography and appreciate the convenience and time savings a kit can provide.

7) Suggested Improvements

On the next iteration, Impact should consider making the back a bit taller. This would enable you to capture larger objects without having to raise your camera a bit.

8) Conclusion

If you are getting into product photography and want to do so without busting your photography budget, this Impact kit is an excellent choice.

9) Compared To

While I haven’t directly tested the other alternatives from Manfrotto, Delta, Elinchrom or others, this Impact kit doesn’t seem to be lacking on the quality front when compared to other lighting equipment I own or have used. You are getting quite a bit for your $375. The competitors’ configurations mentioned will cost you a between $600 and $2,400 once you add the costs of the table and similar lights and stands. The others also offer similar plexiglass surfaces and metal frames. Some of the competitors offer the opportunity to position a light below the shooting table. Such a feature may be important to you, depending on how sophisticated your needs are. The legs on the Impact shooting table are a bit low, so it you would not be able to fit one of the Impact light heads below the table. As always, you should weigh the various kit options and associated prices in light of your specific needs. In the case of someone that only occasionally needs to take product photos, some of the low-end light tents or even configurations of poster board material found at Staples, combined with utility lamps/reflectors found at Home Depot, may suffice. If you suspect that product photography will become a serious part of your portfolio, you may indeed be able to justify one of the higher end lighting kits.

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About Bob Vishneski

Bob Vishneski works in the media software industry and is an avid photographer. He has held management and technical positions during his career in such areas as computer manufacturing, imaging software and document management systems, enterprise systems development, and consulting. Bob rediscovered his love for photography in 2007 as the digital photography movement began to take off. When he is not focusing on the challenges of the software development industry, he spends time traveling with his wife, Tanya, and family, golfing, and honing his photography and Photoshop skills. He is a member of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers. Bob and his family reside in the Pittsburgh area. His work can be found at 500px.

Comments

Being a complete n00b in this area, yet eager to learn, I have one q. Have I understood thing right that these lights are “on” all the time, or do they work as flashes and thus needing some kind of “pocket wizard” thingy to shoot?

Chris, Off camera flashes such as the SB-900 and SB-700 do indeed offer some advantages, although it comes at a cost, and may be overkill for some people’s needs. I have used my 500W Gemini heads with beauty dishes and softboxes on them for similar shots. As long as you get the white balance and exposure settings right, you probably wouldn’t be able to discern the product shots taken with this kit from those taken with the Gemini heads. Bob

I like the idea of this but they would be wise to sell the desktop part separately from the lights. I’ve got lights and I use Elmer 3 fold posterboard for white backgrounds. Works very well. This looks simpler and easier but I wouldn’t want to buy their lights, too.

Jim, The minimum focusing distance is something to keep an eye on, since it varies quite a bit from lens to lens. I often find that I reach for my 24-70mm f/2.8, but will sometimes use my 70-200mm VRII, 28-105mm, 28-300m VR, and yes – my excellent 28-80mm (a whopping $50 on ebay!). Anything that will allow you to get close enough given the size of the objects you are photographing should be fine. Since I normally shoot at f/8-f/11, it would be hard to spot a difference between these lenses. The D800 also gives me quite a bit of leeway to crop images. Bob

This is some very useful kit ,I was taking shots of my Dad’s old movie camera and had to improvise by putting white cardboard on table but even then the background was black in flash as I wanted everything white :)

I think any close focus lens or macro lens is good enough as far as the lenses go.

Adnan, Thanks for the feedback. I have toyed around with various posterboard setups, but inevitably they get dented, break, etc. and I waste time in Photoshop. Kits such as this really help streamline your workflow and allow you to spend your time in better pursuits! Bob

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